Narmada River Info

[Guest guest]

Dear Narasimhaye,

Namaste & Thank you for the wonderful info on River

Narmada,I was trying to follow up on Google Earth and

wikipedia and managed to trace its entire route from

Amarkantak till its merging with Arabian sea.

 

Thanks once again,

 

Aum Namah Shivaya

 

--- narasimhaye <no_reply > wrote:

 

> Namaste Anil, please scroll below for some info..

> Aum Namah Shivaya.

>

> NARMADA MYTHOLOGY

> The Narmada River is considered the mother and giver

> of peace. Legend

> has it that the mere sight of this river is enough

> to cleanse one's

> soul, as against a dip in the Ganga or seven in the

> Yamuna. The Ganga

> is believed to visit this river once a year, in the

> guise of a black

> cow to cleanse herself of all her collected sins.The

> journey along

> the river Narmada is in some sense similar to famous

> parikrama

> (taking round) of the river, except that the

> parikrama is of life in

> the valley of the Narmada.

>

> ALONG THE RIVER

> Narmadakund in Amarkantak has an ambience that makes

> a pilgrim spot

> out of this small place. Amarkantak is a plateau

> from which hangs a

> tale.

>

> Young Narmada falls in love with the male river Son

> and asks Juhilla

> (a tributary of the Son) to convey her message of

> love. Juhilla

> entices Son herself. The disgust and anguish of the

> lovely Narmada

> compels her to jump off the western cliffs of

> Amarkantak. A mere six

> kilometers from her genesis, the Narmada hurtles

> down 150 feet at

> Kapildhara, a gorgeous waterfall. Named after the

> saint Kapil, this

> fall is soon followed by Dudhadhara. All along the

> river, one will be

> always close to teak jungles.

>

> Apart from teaks, India's best hardwood forests are

> found in the

> Narmada river basin and they are much older than the

> ones in the

> Himalayas. Moving along, one reaches the marble rock

> country

> Bheraghat near Jabalpur . Bheraghat, about 24 km

> away from Jabalpur ,

> is a cluster of great, white limestone cliffs

> standing out 30 m above

> the waters of the Narmada. They are an awesome

> sight, particularly by

> night when white, silvery moonshine bathes the

> gorge. The views at

> Dhuandhar, where the river is more like a screen of

> mist, and Haathi-

> ka-Paon are mesmeric.

>

> There is the Chausath Yogini (sixty-four yoginis)

> temple above the

> lower end of the gorge. The attendants of Durga are

> represented here.

> Although the images have been damaged, they still

> retain their

> pristine beauty.

>

> The city of Jabalpur is the second largest in Madhya

> Pradesh after

> Bhopal. The metropolis itself stands in a rock basin

> about 10 km away

> from the Narmada. Named after a saint called Jabali

> who lived here,

> Jabalpur is famous for its marble rocks.

>

> Down the Narmada, it is a myriad landscape-thickly

> forested mountain

> slopes, rocky regions with picturesque rapids, falls

> and whirlpools

> and cultivated lands with rich black cotton soil.

> The great river

> runs through rift valleys, which are part of perhaps

> the oldest

> geological formations of India. Believed to have

> originated from the

> body of Shiva, the river is also known as Jata

> Shankari. The worship

> of Shiva is common in these areas, and each stone or

> pebble found in

> the bed of the Narmada is believed to be a

> Shivalinga. Places along

> the banks-Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, and Mahadeo-are

> all named after

> Shiva.

>

> Omkareshwar has several old and new temples. There

> is an island on

> the river that is supposed to have one of India's

> twelve great

> Shivalingas. Maheshwar is on the northern banks of

> the river.

> Cenotaphs in memory of the Holkars beautify the

> landscape at

> Maheshwar. There are a number of temples too, and a

> fort. One also

> gets a chance to see the delicate, gorgeous

> Maheshwari saris being

> hand-woven. Comfortable in warm and cold weather,

> dressy and yet

> light, these saris have a dedicated, select

> following among Indian

> women. Places like Maheshwar and Omkareshwar are

> just examples of the

> large number of religious centers that dot the banks

> of the Narmada

> as it weaves its 1,000-kilometer journey through the

> state of Madhya

> Pradesh.

>

> To this Narmada, home to so many, religion to more,

> and beautiful

> river to all, there are many odes. The best ode

> would be a sojourn

> for a real experience that can last a lifetime.

>

> ----------

>

> The Narmada River is one of the most important

> sacred rivers,

> believed to have descended from the sky by the order

> of Lord Shiva.

> It is said that the mere sight of the river will

> make a pilgrim pure

> because of its sanctity.

>

> As a result, the river represents an important

> pilgrimage site, and

> one of the highest acts a pilgrim can perform is to

> walk from the sea

> to the source of the river, in the Maikal Mountains

> and back along

> the opposite bank, a process that can take one to

> two years to

> complete. The town of Maheshwar is a particularly

> important

> pilgrimage site along the route of the river.

>

> The Narmada is closely associated with Lord Shiva.

> Naturally formed

> smooth stones called banas, made of cryptocrytalline

> quartz, are

> found in Narmada which are known as Shivalingas; the

> rare and unique

> markings on them are regarded by shaivaites as very

> auspicious. The

> Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu,

> constructed by

> Rajaraja Chola, has one of the biggest Bana

> Shivalingas.

>

> Adi Shankara met his guru Govinda Bhagavatpada on

> the banks of river

> Narmada.

> The Narmada River is also worshipped as mother

> goddess by Narmadeeya

> Brahmins. Reva is another name of Narmada River.

>

> -------

>

>

> ,

> Anil Kumar

> <yogi75ank wrote:

> >

> > Dear Narasimhaye,

> > Namaste,

> > Thank you for this & the previous e-mail on

> Narmada

> > Shivling.

> > It would be great if you could let us know more on

> the

> > Narmada river..as to how it is so sacred that

> mother

> > Ganges visits once a year to cleanse herself. It

> is

> > also said that Adi Shankaracharya met his guru for

> the

> > first time on the banks of Narmada river.

> >

> > It would be great to know the origin of the

> Narmada

> > River or the legend behind it.

> >

> > Aum Namah Shivaya